Bewick's swan. 19 



bill^ from forehead to pointy 3 inches 5 lines ; from eye to point 

 ■i inches 5 lines ; rictus to point 8^ inches ; tarsus 3j inches, 

 and in some parts of a brown, in others of a black colour ; middle 

 toe and nail 5x inches. A gentleman resident at Portumna, 

 situated near the river Shannon, and Lough Derg, one of its ex- 

 pansions, told me, in 1889, that wild swans are often there in 

 winter : he had observed them in the course of three successive 

 seasons. On showing liim two stuffed specimens of C. BewicHi, 

 he stated with certainty, that those which had been killed were not 

 of larger size, but that they differed in having a greyish tinge over 

 their plumage ; — consequently they were young birds. Another 

 gentleman, once resident at Portumna, supplied me with informa- 

 tion to the same effect, and mentioned his having seen three grey 

 wild swans which were shot there. 



In the mouth of October 1840, I saw, at Plorence Court, 

 county of Fermanagh, a living Bewick's swan, that had been there 

 for about ten years, and which was wounded in the neighbourhood. 

 This bird was at first placed with a pair of tame swans, but they 

 would not keep company with it. That the stranger might have the 

 advantage of some society, it was considerately ])laced with a flock 

 of common geese, which welcomed it as a friend, and thenceforth 

 they became associated together ; — in the midst of a flock of these 

 birds, this swan first attracted my attention."^ The Hon. J. L. 

 Cole informed me at that time, that previous to the four pre- 

 ceding winters, he had annually seen small flocks of wild swans 

 on Lough Macnean — a fine and extensive lake within tlu'ee miles of 

 Florence Court, — and occasionally observed, at the same view, 

 two flocks, each consisting of six or seven individuals. Arthur 

 Young remarks, in reference to Lough Erne, in his ' Tour in 

 Ireland,' under date of August 17, 1776: — "Large flights of 

 swans sometimes appear here in winter." 



A Bewick's swan, wounded on the Shannon, in the middle of 

 February 1811, was procured there by Colonel Jones, of the 

 Board of Works, and presented by him to the Royal Zoological 

 Society of Ireland. It was received at their garden on the 18th 



* About two years afterwards, it met with an aeci(leut:il dealli. 



c 2 



